Another thing to consider is Cliff is a working professional not someone who does product comparisons and testing for a living. You're not going to see a lot of SOOC images because he has a certain "look" to maintain when he creates an image. Some of that look is created in camera and some of it is in post production.

If you have met Cliff you know his heart and soul are right there on his sleeve for everyone to see. Is he a Nikon fan boy? Yes, an unpaid fan boy as all Nikon "sponsored" professionals are. He buys all of his equipment with his own money as this has been stated time and time again. Is it unbiased? Not entirely but I would venture to say it's a little bit more unbiased than a Canon sponsored professional that gets gear for free or gets paid to be a spokesperson...

His opinion is just that, his opinion - take it or leave it. Am I a Cliff Mautner fan boy? YOU BETCHA! I met him a few years ago when I attended a Joe Buissink workshop that he filled in for when Joe had health issues last minute. He is a superb photographer, photojournalist and all around nice guy - what more could you ask for

The proof is in the pudding - I can't wait to see all the images from folks on the forum SOOC to compare to Cliff's

The proof is in the pudding - I can't wait to see all the images from folks on the forum SOOC to compare to Cliff's
As one of the resident SOOC gurus around here, send ME one. I'll show ya some shots, no problem.

if we're rational for a minute, I think we can all agree that the shots are small jpegs designed for web viewing. The original 36MP images can't really be displayed, so these - other than the shallow DOF and back-lit ones - could have been taken by just about any camera.

But that's not really the point here, is it? These are some early shots and it appears the shots are clean, the camera worked for him, and until we see more first hand reviews and hear from people using the D800 daily, we should take this as a valid data point. I'm sure there will be public dissections of thousands of shots by mid-April.

I don't know who this guy is, nor do I care if he is a fan boy - yes, he does sound like one. The value of this camera can't be over stated IMO, and it's a real game changer. It's not perfect, but no camera is. I'm excited and pleased by it even if I don't see myself buying one.

I never start out enthusiastic about new equipment, and don't often rush to the head of the line to buy it. As the D800 story unfolds, (based on samples shown so far) I will be looking for good opportunities to evaluate whether the camera tends to posterize the high end. Also, the examples shown all feature plenty of light, natural or otherwise. Let's see some pre-dawn seascapes, everything sharp, with some waves—sort of a stress test to see how the camera resolves the tension between low light, smaller apertures, fast shutter speeds, and image quality.

jamesf99 wrote:
if we're rational for a minute, I think we can all agree that the shots are small jpegs designed for web viewing. The original 36MP images can't really be displayed, so these - other than the shallow DOF and back-lit ones - could have been taken by just about any camera.

But that's not really the point here, is it? These are some early shots and it appears the shots are clean, the camera worked for him, and until we see more first hand reviews and hear from people using the D800 daily, we should take this as a valid data point. I'm sure there will be public dissections of thousands of shots by mid-April.

I don't know who this guy is, nor do I care if he is a fan boy - yes, he does sound like one. The value of this camera can't be over stated IMO, and it's a real game changer. It's not perfect, but no camera is. I'm excited and pleased by it even if I don't see myself buying one.

The odd thing is the first pic of the Indian bride shows as shot by the d800 however in his October 2011 blog post the exact same shot appears except it says shot with the D3s?? Maybe he had the d800 in his hands last fall but why would label the photo as shot with the d3s? Confusing.

thePond wrote:
The odd thing is the first pic of the Indian bride shows as shot by the d800 however in his October 2011 blog post the exact same shot appears except it says shot with the D3s?? Maybe he had the d800 in his hands last fall but why would label the photo as shot with the d3s? Confusing.

Probably so folks would not know that he wast testing the new Nikon Camera

thePond wrote:
The odd thing is the first pic of the Indian bride shows as shot by the d800 however in his October 2011 blog post the exact same shot appears except it says shot with the D3s?? Maybe he had the d800 in his hands last fall but why would label the photo as shot with the d3s? Confusing.

I think because he was not supposed to. People who test them out before a release of a product sign a confidentiality agreement.